The San Jose Sharks - Minnesota Wild family
reunion went off without a hitch on Thursday night at HP Pavilion. Per Brent
Burns script, San Jose skated away with the win, Minnesota with the loss, and
everyone parted friends. What probably wasn't part of Burns script was all the
details that San Jose shored up, turning in one heck of a solid performance en
route to a 3-1 win.

With all the hype surrounding all the players that
changed teams over the summer, it was the longest tenured Shark that generated
all the offense that San Jose would need. What was most impressive, was that
San Jose dissected the Minnesota penalty kill, which had stopped 21 of 21
chances over their last 5 games.

The Sharks were 2-on-5 on the power
play, with both goals courtesy of Patrick Marleau and his deft stick work. He
opened the games scoring by pouncing on a turnover deep in the Wild zone and
squeezing a shot between the post and Minnesota goaltender Niklas Backstrom.
Marleau then added his 2nd goal of the night with a one-timer from the right
dot.

Former Wild defenseman Brent Burns was credited with the
secondary assist on Marleau's second goal, making him the only player that was
involved in the Minnesota - San Jose trade-a-thon to record a point.

It wasn't a goal, but the point allowed Burns to gloat a little. He made it no
secret this week that he was not rooting for Minnesota.

"I want them
to go 0 and 82," Burns said on Wednesday.

Burns was rooting for is
former teammates to score 6-goals a night, so long as they lose!

He
sounded a little more relived following the game.

"It was good to get
this first meeting over with. The first one is always going to be weird. I'm
sure the first one in Minny is going to be the same."

And lose they
did Thursday night. Torrey Mitchell scored his first goal of the season with 81
seconds left in the 2nd period to give the Sharks a 3-0 lead and essentially
floor the Wild. Even thought they had ripped off 5 straight wins, Minnesota
still isn't an offensive juggernaut. Coming back from a 3-goal deficit just
wasn't in the cards for the Wild.

Kyle Brodziak did snap Antti Niemi's
shutout bid with 6:27 to play, but the game was all but decided by then.

Former Sharks Devin Setoguchi and Dany Heatley didn't partake in the
Wild's lone goal, but they figured into the game early. Both forwards were sent
off for separate penalties in the 1st period. Sharks defenseman Douglas Murray
welcomed Setoguchi back with a jarring hit in the game's first minute. Murray
plastered Setoguchi in front of the Minnesota bench, drawing some chuckles on
the Sharks bench.

Former Wild forward Martin Havlat, the player
acquired for Heatley, didn't figure in any of the Sharks scoring. Havlat skated
24 shifts, and recorded 4 shots on Backstrom. Even though he didn't score,
Havlat put thing into perspective.

"It feels great, though it doesn't
matter who you play as long as you get the two points," said Czech forward.

Reunion aside, the Sharks were looking to improve a
couple of problem areas. The first being the penalty kill, which has been their
Achilles Heel this season. San Jose only played down a man here times during
the game, but they escaped unscathed. The penalty kill unit clamped down on
Minnesota, denying the Wild from getting pucks to Niemi.

"I obviously
liked the result; I thought our effort was very good. We are a patient team,"
said Sharks head coach Todd McLellan. "We managed the game very well. We didn't
give up many opportunities. Our power play clicked. Our penalty kill was fine.
We talked about complete nights not that long ago, and this was pretty close."

Marleau's goals helped keep the Sharks power play rolling. San Jose
ranks 6th in the NHL in power play efficiency.

"We haven't had any
issues with our power play," McLellan added. "We aren't trying to paint a
Picasso. It's about scoring goals and our power play did that again for us.
That part of it is good. We knew they were going to have a very good penalty
kill, and we found ways to beat it and that's rewarding."

Another reason
San Jose excelled was the success in the face off circle. Michal Handzus led
the Sharks by winning 9 of 14 draws.

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